DNC 2024 Day 4 live updates: Harris says she will 'fight for America's future'

Four people impacted by gun violence shared their stories with the crowd in moving statements.

Abbey Clements of Newtown, Connecticut, a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary, said she carries that "horrific day" with her, when 20 children and six of her colleagues were shot.

"They should still be here," she said.

Kim Rubio of Uvalde, Texas, whose daughter was one of 19 children killed in the Robb Elementary School shooting, recounted that day through tears.

"I reach out for the daughter I will never hold again," she said, as the crowd yelled out her daughter's name.

Melody McFadden of Charleston, South Carolina, said her niece's murder on a beach remains unsolved.

6:40

Emotional stories of gun violence take center stage at the DNC

Americans impacted by mass shootings shared their heartrending stories at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

ABCNews.com

"I'll keep fighting," she said.

Edgar Vilchez of Chicago, Illinois, recounted when his high school classmate was shot in school.

"Instead of worried about taking a test, I started worrying about living to take another test," he said.

He said he learned a lot that day: "How to run, how to hide and drop."

Georgia Rep. Lucy McBath said the stories "strengthen their resolve" to fight for the "safer futures that we all deserve."

Americans impacted by mass shootings just shared their heartrending stories.

Speaking next is Gabby Giffords, who was shot during an assassination attempt in when she was in Congress.

Gun violence is among the top issues in the Democratic Party's platform, which calls for an assault weapons ban and ending the gun industry's immunity from liability. In contrast, the GOP convention platform made no mention of firearm violence or gun control.

In speeches and videos, the convention is talking about Harris' record as a prosecutor. It's a reminder that the national mood has shifted since her last run for president, when she ran in the 2020 Democratic primary. At the time, efforts to reform policing were reaching a fever pitch, and her record as a prosecutor actually hurt her with progressives in the party. Those issues would only grow by the time she joined Biden's ticket as vice president, after the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.

But that was four years go. Support for the Black Lives Matter movement has dropped since then, and Harris is working to reframe her history as a prosecutor to portray herself as a champion of victims. She's also framing it in opposition to Trump, who has since been convicted in a felony case in Manhattan and is facing several other charges.

—538's Monica Potts

In an X post Thursday night, President Joe Biden said he and the first lady just talked to Harris ahead her speech at the convention coming up.

He added that they "can’t wait to watch her accept this historic nomination."

In the photo, the Bidens, who are in Santa Ynez, California, are standing in front of a TV with the DNC on screen and Biden is holding a phone.

"Kamala and Tim will inspire a generation and lead us into the future," Biden said in the post.